


Kaleidoscope

by CottonCandyWhump



Category: The Rookie (TV 2018)
Genre: Fever, Gen, Hospital, Hospital Setting, Hurt Lucy Chen, Hurt/Comfort, Vomiting, Whump, concussion, emeto, headache
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-07
Updated: 2019-12-10
Packaged: 2021-02-26 03:42:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,510
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21706924
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CottonCandyWhump/pseuds/CottonCandyWhump
Summary: A concussed and fevered boot and some awkward comfort.@faaabiii wanted some hurt!chen and worried!bradford. I hope this is to your liking. :)
Comments: 11
Kudos: 95





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [faaabiii](https://archiveofourown.org/users/faaabiii/gifts).



Chen grimaces, spitting into the toilet once more before pushing herself up and flushing it away. Her stomach had been feeling off since the night before, causing her to toss and turn all night. She had finally fallen asleep, only for her alarm to go off an hour later, her stomach turning. She had been in front of the toilet for half an hour, trying to bring something up. 

With another grimace, Chen rushes to get her uniform on, hurriedly running a brush through her hair and tying it back in a quick and messy bun. She grabs her keys, wallet and phone and runs out the door. 

Half an hour later and she’s running into the briefing room, ten minutes late.

“Officer Chen! How nice of you to join us!” Sergeant Grey says, eyeing her.

“Sorry, sir. It won’t happen again.”

“You know what happens when an officer is late, right?”

“Lives are lost?”

“No, Officer Chen. When an officer is late, they get to sing for us.”

A chorus of laughter rings out as Chen takes the two steps up to the front and surveys the room. Most officers were watching with an expression of amusement although one or two looked embarrassed for her. 

“Go ahead, Officer Chen. Show us your best rendition of “The Wheels On The Bus”,” Gray says with a grin. Chen nods, the room spinning.

“The wheels on the bus go round and round, round and round, round and-,” Chen cuts herself off, her vision swimming again. Gray frowns at her as she sways. 

“Okay, Boot. You can sit down now,” he says, taking pity on her. Chen returns to her seat, stumbling slightly. 

“Hey, you okay?” Nolan asks, putting a hand on her shoulder. Chen nods, putting her head down on the table. 

“Dismissed!” 

Chen stands, making her way over to her TO. 

“What was that, Boot?! Coming in late?” He snaps as they head to get the gear.

“I um I slept in,” she tells him, wiping the sweat off her forehead with her sleeve. It was one of the first times she was grateful to be the only rookie in long sleeves.

“Hey, Boot. Look at me for a sec.”

Chen turns to look at her TO as the room spins. His voice was concerned, which was out of character for him. Tim crouches down in front of her, either ignoring her confusion or taking no notice of it. 

“Chen, can you follow my pen?” 

Chen snaps her head towards him and does her best to follow the pen with her eyes. The movement makes her dizzy and she stumbles forwards, falling into her TO. Bradford steadies her, looking at her in concern. 

“Boot, did you hit your head last shift?” 

“My head? I… I don’t know?”

“Okay, sit down, sit down,” he says, lowering her to the floor. He crouches in front of her, putting his hand on her shoulder. Chen’s stomach twists, sending her pitching forwards with a gag. 

Her TO jumps back, out of the way, as she vomits onto the floor. A few other officers stop, staring in shock at the scene in front of them. 

“Bradford, Chen, what’s going on?” Lopez asks, crouching down on the other side of Chen as she heaves. Bradford shakes his head, his hand on his Chen’s shoulder. 

“Boots got a concussion,” he answers. Chen’s stomach finally calms down and she looks around, taking in the puddle of vomit on the floor in front of her and the two TO’s on either side of her. She looks up to see a few other officers standing a few feet away, staring at her in disgust and shock. 

Bradford freezes, unprepared for when his boot starts sobbing, hiding her face in her arms. Lopez turns to look at him, eyes wide in shock. Bradford puts his wrist on Chen’s forehead, feeling her burning up.

“She’s burning up,” he whispers, not sure how to proceed. 

Lopez bites her lip before whispering, “Stay here. I’ll go get Gray.”

Lopez takes off, leaving an unprepared Bradford with his sobbing rookie. Hesitantly, he lays a hand on her shoulder. She doesn’t react and Bradford decides to chance something further. He wraps his arm around her shoulders, pulling her in so her head’s on his chest. 

She immediately stills and Tim freezes, waiting for her to say something or move away but Chen relaxes again, her head lying on his chest as she sobs, pressed into his side. He awkwardly rubs her back, completely and utterly out of his element.

“Hey, Boot, it’s okay,” he tells her, stumbling over the words. Luckily he’s saved by Lopez and Gray returning. 

“What’s going on?”

“Boots concussed and running a pretty high fever.”

“Chen? Can you hear me?” Gray asks, kneeling down beside her and Bradford. Chen nods, still hiding her face in Bradford’s shoulder. 

“Okay. Can you look over her?” 

“No. Lights. Bright,” she mumbles.

“We can’t turn them off, Lucy. Do you want to stand up and we can take you into one of the interrogation rooms where it’s dark,” Lopez suggests. 

Chen nods, her and Bradford standing up. Chen squeezes her eyes shut, trying to block out the light as Tim leads her down the hall. Time goes fuzzy for a bit and the next thing she knows, she’s sitting up in a chair, somebody's hand on her arm.

“You can open your eyes now, Boot.”

Chen opens her eyes, surprised to find it’s only her and Bradford in the room. As if reading her mind, her TO explains. “Lopez went to grab some ice or something and Gray’s calling an ambulance.”

“Ambulance? Why do we need an ambulance?” Chen asks, frowning.

“You passed out, Boot. Don’t you remember?”

Chen shakes her head. The door opens to reveal Gray and a paramedic crew coming in. Chen squeezes her eyes shut again, fighting against the nausea and trying not to gag. 

“Don’t worry, Boot. I’m coming with you,” Bradford reassures her with a glare to Gray that dares him to object.

Chen nods, her eyes slipping closed once again despite everyone yelling at her to keep them open.


	2. Chapter 2

“It’s not your fault, you know.”

Chen frowns, hearing a familiar voice from right beside her. She can’t quite figure out who it is, her mind too muddled to process anything properly.

“Of course it is!” A new voice, this one deeper than the first, snaps. “How did I not realize? I’m supposed to be looking after her!”

Chen tries opening her eyes, wanting to know who’s speaking. Her eyes open but she still sees nothing but darkness and as she reaches up a hand to find out what’s going on, somebody grabs her wrist. Immediately, her instincts kick in and she’s flailing, bucking and kicking out to try and get free.

“Hey! Chen, calm down! It’s me-,” the voice is cut off by a grunt of pain and Chen finds herself pushing herself up, trying to get out of wherever she is.

“Chen, relax. Lucy! Just stop for a second!” 

Against her conscious will, Chen pauses. It’s not for long but it’s enough for whoever’s speaking to her to grab her around the chest in a bear hug as another person fiddles around with something at the back of her head.

A few seconds later, she can see again, bright hospital lights assaulting her vision. The arms around her let go and she stumbles into the corner, turning to asses the other people in the room. She see Bradford and Lopez standing there, hands up in surrender. Immediately Chen relaxes, looking down at the blue blindfold lying on the ground.

“You woke up a few times and the lights were hurting your eyes,” Lopez explains, guiding her back towards the bed.

“How long was I out?” 

Chen winces at the sound of her own voice, crackly and dry. Bradford hands her a bottle of water which she drinks as the two TO’s explain.

“Two shifts ago, you hit your head. At the beginning of last shift, you puked all over the floor and passed out twice. It’s two hours since shift ended,” Bradford informs her. Chen nods slightly, flushing red and glancing down in shame once the memories come flooding back.

“Scared the shit out of Bradford,” Lopez adds. Tim shoots her a glare but ultimately nods.

“Sorry… I woke up feeling like shit but I thought it would pass.”

Tim frowns at her. “Did you throw up at all before coming in?”

Chen shrugs. “Almost. I mean, it was pretty close but nothing… you know.”

“Came up?” He clarifies, an eyebrow raised. Chen nods, flushing red again.

“How bad is it?”

“The doctor said it’s not too serious and you should be back to work in a week or two.”

Chen nods, still trying to process everything that had happened. Thankfully, the two TO’s seem to sense that and Lopez gives her a small smile. “Get some rest, Boot. One of us will be here when you wake up.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m probably going to start writing more for The Rookie so if anyone has any prompts/requests, feel free to comment on here or send an ask on my tumblr (@whumpkeys).


End file.
